Riley’s Story
Our Riley was born a gorgeous and healthy baby boy on February 13th, 2015.
He was our second child and we were so delighted to have him in our family.
At three weeks of age, he started displaying mild cold-like symptoms, and developed an occasional cough. We called out a doctor, who assured us he was fine. However instincts took over, and after a night where he slept a lot and barely woke for his usual two-hourly breastfeed, we knew something was wrong. We took him straight to our local children’s hospital, Princess Margaret Hospital in Perth, Western Australia.
Riley was admitted that afternoon, and at first it was thought he had bronchiolitis. Pretty quickly, the doctors suspected pertussis (whooping cough) and began treating him for it. On the 4th day of his hospital stay, he was taken to PICU with pneumonia, and swab tests confirmed he did indeed have whooping cough.
He grew steadily worse and worse, and despite all the best medical intervention, Riley passed away in our arms the next afternoon, at just 32 days old.
Riley went from a healthy baby with a minor cough to dead within five days.
In five days I had gone from planning a lifetime of birthdays and holidays to planning a funeral.
When Riley died, we walked out of that hospital in complete shock, with empty arms but with heads filled with a million and one questions about what an earth had just happened.
Simultaneous grief and disbelief, falling on us like a huge ton of bricks. We had no idea that the next morning, we would have journalists at our door, and that Riley's death would become front page news.
The shocks just kept coming.
After Riley’s death we had so many questions that we needed answers to, but we also had a platform for speaking up for change. Support from the hospital, family and friends empowered us to share Riley’s story.
If I had been offered a whooping cough booster during pregnancy, there is a good chance Riley would still be with us today. During his last few days with us, we discovered that women in the UK, USA, Belgium and New Zealand were being recommended a whooping cough vaccine in their third trimester. This vaccine, usually given between 20-32 weeks gestation, provides the unborn baby with the necessary antibodies to protect them from this terrible disease.
Since the introduction of this pregnancy vaccine, the UK has seen a reduction in infant deaths from pertussis by over 90%.
Two days after Riley’s death, our state government announced the introduction of a program where these third trimester booster shots would be offered free of charge to pregnant women.
Other states soon followed, and now all states and territories in Australia have free whooping cough booster shots for pregnant women. Whooping cough boosters are now free for pregnant women in Australia, and recommended in every single pregnancy.
As a family, we have survived this tragedy from the enormous wave of support we have – and still are – receiving through our quest to ensure that Riley’s passing was not in vain by educating families on the importance of vaccination. You can visit our not-for-profit patient advocacy organisation - the Immunisation Foundation of Australia by clicking the link below.
